For the heirs of candy-maker Gustav Goelitz, it was a sweet ride while it lasted. But like other journeys, it eventually had to end. Which is what happened Oct. 18 when it was announced the family-owned Jelly Belly Candy Co., a fixture in North Chicago since 1913, was being sold to Chicago-based Ferrara Candy Co. There’s nothing sour about the sale. Terms were not announced and the sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
By 2001, the success of the Jelly Belly brand in the early 1980s and beyond turned Goelitz into the Jelly Belly Candy Co. All Jelly Belly bean production, which started in 1976 on the West Coast, was moved from North Chicago to California in 2014. The North Chicago plant continues to make gourmet candies and other confectionary goodies, according to the company. Headquarters moved to California’s Bay Area in the 1970s and ‘80s, along with much of the company’s candy production.